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With the power and widespread availability of 4G LTE, the technology is leading to new innovations and transforming (mobile) lives. We asked some of the nation’s leading technology writers their thoughts about the future of 4G LTE.
Disclaimer: These views are those of the individuals and do not represent the views of Verizon Wireless.
How do you think 4G LTE is transforming the mobile lifestyle?
Sascha Segan, Lead Analyst, Mobile for PCMag: We’re just at the first phase of how LTE is changing how we interact with mobile devices, the Internet and the world. The shift to smartphones has made it so that people have the Internet with them all the time; there are a thousand questions where ten years ago we would have had to answer “I don’t know” and now we can just say, “I’ll look it up.“
Kevin Fitchard, Senior Writer at GigaOM: I wouldn‘t go far as to say that LTE is creating a new lifestyle, but it has changed the way people interact with content and services on their mobile phones. Mobile video is now viable (though still limited by data caps), and for the first time cellular becomes an alternative to fixed broadband connections.
What are your thoughts about other possibilities enabled by 4G LTE outside of traditional mobile devices?
Noah Kravitz, technology writer and founder of Tabula Project: Inevitably, anything that can have a chip embedded in it will have 4G LTE. And, most of those chips will be network-aware. Sky’s the limit. Mobile connectivity eliminates any questions of portable vs. non-portable relative to these devices.
Segan: The Internet of Things enabled by 4G LTE is going to be the next step. Already we’re seeing devices like municipal trash cans which tell the sanitation department when to pick them up and football helmets which transmit concussion data (and video) in real time. The low latency, broad bandwidth and low cost of LTE chipsets make it possible to connect a lot of devices which hadn’t been connected before.
Do you think that we will one day live in a truly connected world? What will this be like?
Fitchard: I just want a single app and a set of technologies that knows what’s in my refrigerator and pantry, what’s available and on sale at my grocery stores, and what recipes I like to cook. I want to tell my phone “I feel like pasta with chicken tonight” and have the back-end tell me my recipe options and what groceries I would have to get to make that dish. Until that happens we aren’t truly connected.
